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Author: Design & Culture by Ed
A Good Shift. Proenza Schouler AW20
Something has shifted at Proenza Schouler. The last few seasons from Lazaro Hernandez and Jack McCollough weren’t their best, lets be honest – they were plain and mild, and seemed to drown in the New York fashion week crowd. But their autumn-winter 2020 collection feels different. Delicate silhouettes got replaced by sharper cuts, and instead of draped forms we’ve got something much more geometric and bold. Also, the lenghts are shorter, the mood isn’t slouchy. The first look was a little black dress slipping off the shoulder, worn with ruched leather boots. Later looks followed the same pattern of „undone” style: jackets and knits peeled off of one shoulder, stretch leather dresses were cut with asymmetrical necklines, and a cold shoulder sweater exposed both clavicles. The closing looks were all about comforting volume. The designers’ starting point was a blanket. The duo gave their stylist Camilla Nickerson one for Christmas which she started wearing as a scarf, and inspiration was born. “She’s blanketed in a protective layer of strength and confidence,” Hernandez said backstage. McCollough put it another way: “It’s about finding beauty in a world that’s unraveling.”
Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
Monumental Lightness. The Row AW20
In the sea of meaningless or overly sophisticated (which, in the end, means the same as meaningless…) collections in New York this season, The Row stuns with confidence and actual sense of real desire put upon us, the viewers. As the models skimmed quickly by in flat slippers and boots, the thrill behind Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen’s line-up was in the finesse of the cuts, precise but relaxed, especially with the addition of turtlenecks layered under silk button-downs or worn solo under jackets. The tailoring is refined and subtle in shilhouette, and the outerwear is a sure winner of the season. It’s quite clear that the designers looked at Martin Margiela’s Hermès for inspiration – especially the layered knits and long, grey gloves that seemed to blur with the clothes. But I’m fine with that. An installation of sculptures by Beverly Pepper, an American artist who worked in stone, corten steel, and iron until she was 97, was the centerpiece at The Row’s show. Pepper died just last week, and the New York Times’s obituary described her as a “sculptor of monumental lightness.” The Olsens’ work definitely identifies with that description.
Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
What’s Hot (11.2.20)
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Dutch Heritage. Sies Marjan AW20
This was one of the best collections coming from Sander Lak’s Sies Marjan to date. The designer is known for his incredible skills in colour combinations, and this time he nailed it with the earthy tones, gorgeous metallics and warm nude palette. The shoes – which were inspired by the traditional wooden, clogs from Netherlands – hinted that the designer might have thought of the masterful colours used by Dutch masters. And you can really see Vermeer, Ruisdael and Ter Borch in these mixes of browns, yellows and greens. Another factor that shaped the collection? Later this month, New York’s Guggenheim Museum will host Rem Koolhaas’s “Countryside: The Future” exhibition. The exhibit is a radical break from the fine art displays typically housed inside the Frank Lloyd Wright–designed rotunda. Instead of art, per se, it will exhibit scientific and cultural research collected by Koolhaas and his AMO team relating to the broad idea of the countryside and all its functions. Sies Marjan is one of the exhibition’s sponsors, and to mark the partnership between the brand, the museum, and Koolhaas, Lak themed his autumn-winter 2020 collection around ideas of the countryside. After a year-long deep-dive into the broadest notions of the theme, he went down material paths, collaborating with Cornell University on plant dyeing techniques that produced the floral patterns in the collection through hammering leaves directly onto fiber. A Dutch artist, Claudy Jongstra, lent her sustainable wool material made from sheeps’ sheddings to shaggy blue-green vests and blankets. A raffia-like material on a black top is actually made from plant roots engineered by artist Diana Scherer to grow in specific patterns. These natural textile developments lent a beautiful connection to the Earth within Lak’s collection. He continued this rawness in his produced fabrics by screen printing a gold film onto cotton twills and a mossy fil coupé. It’s rare to see a collection filled with so much thought – and looking this easy! In the end of the day, we’ve got some very genuine clothes for both women and men.
Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
Design & Culture by Ed 